The Staveley Store

Sitting pretty on Burgess Road in the shade of Mt Somers, the red-roofed Staveley Store has anchored its village since around 1876. Today, locals and travellers seek out this café and purveyor of sundry goods, and they do so with ease. You've just got to look out for the giant coffee cup.

Over the years the building has served as a grocery, family home, and the place where pirouetting locals could hire skates (there's a rink up the road), and new ownership has leant into this eclectic history with style. Swing open the old red door and cross the hardwood floors like a wanderer of yesteryear announced with every creak. You’ll find a light and open counter space ringed by colourful wares, greenery trailing from the shelves and organic Kōkako coffee scenting the room.

To the left there's a sage green room hung with historic photographs, where a coat stand dangles old skates and a tweed cap. To the right, a pink sunroom catches the morning, its fringed floor lamp, pampas and Persian rug matching awfully well with more vintage furniture and generous slices of cake arriving on mismatched china.

Speaking of sustenance, the kitchen makes everything from scratch, right down to the hash browns. Their beef cheek has made a name for itself, while the French toast is worth scheduling the morning around. Sustainability is at the heart of the operation, with takeaway cups dispatched lid-free, and shelves lined with New Zealand-made goods, from local skincare to pottery and art, all from makers the owners believe in.

Add picnic tables out front, bistro seating to the side, a bucolic church across the road and a museum nearby and you've got yourself a bona fide destination. The Staveley Store has a habit of attracting everyone from hippies to dairy farmers, daily regulars to those passing through, all adding their own chapter to the enduring tale of this old building.